Nothing is sacred - Gameloft is ripping off your favorite games

Yep, Gameloft is at it again. In case you don't know, Gameloft is a mobile games publisher that specializes in taking your favorite games, and then ripping them off so blatantly that you might not even realize that they're different games.

The first in their line of rip-offs was Hero of Sparta, which was a a respectably fun riff on God of War. But it got slightly more blatant with Modern Combat: Sandstorm, which was clearly "inspired" by Modern Warfare. But that was forgivable, because the war is a pretty ambiguous setting. Things got a little more intense when Gameloft released N.O.V.A. But there are lots of sci-fi games, right?

Well, let me tell you what there aren't a lot of: zombie shooters set in Africa. When Gameloft released the trailer for the cleverly titled Zombie Infection, the reaction was so strong that Gameloft changed the location of the game from Africa to South America.

Now, Gameloft are working on exploiting the success of both Uncharted and Final Fantasy. Now, I'm not gonna lie, both of these games look really cool. But if you're going to steal from other people, at least steal from things that are a little less obvious.

Clearly, nothing is sacred. No one is safe from the wrath of Gameloft. I won't deny that their games are good fun, but with every game they're getting a little more ridiculous with their leeching. Gameloft has the potential to make some amazing iPhone classics that could perhaps change peoples' perception of mobile gaming. But as long they continue with what they're doing, they're only going to reinforce their reputation as shameless leeches - albeit very good ones.

7 Great iPhone Games for Your Enjoyment

It's no secret that the App Store is home to tons of amazing games. From Modern Warfare rip-offs to clever puzzles games, you can find just about every type of game on Apple's virtual store. Seeing as I own just about every great game on the iPhone, I often find myself searching for fun new games to play. To save you the same hassle, I've compiled seven of the iPhone's best games.

1. Soosiz

This cute Mario-inspired platformer is one of the App Store's greatest gems. It's charming, it's fun, and it's got some of the system's most accurate controls. Although touch controls are often criticized for being inaccurate, the truth is that when done right they can be just as good as physical controls. Soosiz is a great example of that, and it helps that the gameplay itself is addictive. And the best part? As of this writing, the game is completely free. Grab it while it's cheap, but don't hesitate to buy it even once the price goes up.

2. Cut the Rope

This game is brand new. It just came out a few days ago, and it's already the #1 paid app, while the lite version is the #1 free app. That should give you an idea of how great this game is. The goal of the game is to guide a piece of candy into an adorable little monster's mouth. The game seems easy at first, but puzzles become much more challenging once elements like bubbles that lift the candy into the air and spikes that destroy your candy come into play. Getting the candy into the monster's mouth is fairly challenging, but collecting stars to unlock new levels is where you'll really have to think. All this for only $0.99. But if you're skeptical, then there's a free lite version to try.

3. Sir Lovalot

Sure, I could've taken the easy way out and recommended Doodle Jump, but Sir Lovalot is a bit more unique. The game plays similarly to Doodle Jump, but with stylish graphics, loot to collect, and a 3D tower to hop around. The game is fairly bare-bones, but it's okay because what's there is addictive and fun. And the $0.99 price tag doesn't hurt either.

4. Modern Combat 2: Black Pegasus

If you've played Modern Warfare 2, you've played Modern Combat 2. The campaign consists of down-the-sights aiming, convoy escort missions, slow-motion breaches and light stealth sections. But don't let the fact that this is a blatant rip-off keep you from trying this game. In addition to the fun single-player campaign, Black Pegasus also contains an addictive online multiplayer mode for ten players. It's far more complete than previous Gameloft efforts, with a persistant character, customizable loadout, and special abilities. For $6.99, you're essentially getting Modern Warfare 2 on the go.

5. Banzai Rabbit

Essentially Frogger but with a rabbit, Banzai Rabbit is an extremely attractive, extremely fun arcade game with solid controls and a lengthy story mode to play through. It's occasionally frustrating, and occasionally tedious, but it's nonetheless worth the price – especially while it's free.

6. Monster Mayhem

Unoriginal name aside, Monster Mayhem is good fun for a buck. Gameplay consists of using a variety of weapons – from knifes to pistols to flamethrowers – to eliminate monsters and protect your fence. You'll fight zombies, werewolves, a giant yeti, and much more, all while earning cash and purchasing and upgrading weapons. All of this is wrapped in a colorful and attractive art style.

7. Mr. Bill

Based on the lovable and oft-abused Saturday Night Live mascot, Mr. Bill consists of flying around levels and avoiding obstacles. Tapping the screen flaps your arms to make you go higher; an ability that requires energy, which you earn by picking up popcorn and soda. You can choose to fly through the levels quickly, or you can earn a gold medal by completing specific goals. The game is a lot of fun, and well worth the $0.99.

Gone But Not Forgotten: Spyro the Dragon

I'm a rather huge fan of the Spyro the Dragon games. I own all of the PS1 and GBA games, and I still play them regularly. In fact, I just beat the third game again a few days ago. But even as a huge fan, I can't deny that the my purple friend has run his course.

It all started with Enter the Dragonfly. Spyro's first PlayStation 2 entry promised us Gnasty Gnorc's return, over 120 dragonflies to collect, a frame-rate of 60 frames per second, and over 25 levels. Clearly, someone at Universal had the right idea. But in a rush to get the game out by Winter of 2002, none of these features were added, and we got a practically non-existent story, 9 levels, 90 dragonflies, and a constantly chugging frame-rate. Sure, the game had colorful graphics and a lot of charm, but the frame-rate made everything way more difficult than it should have been, and a host of glitches made certain parts impossible.

Gameplay-wise, the game was somewhat playable, if you could look past its flaws, and there were some creative levels. But all the issues mentioned above really hurt the experience. As much as I wanted to like the game, I just couldn't; I can't.

After several entertaining GBA games, we eventually got A Hero's Tale. This game boasted colorful graphics, but there seemed, to me, to be an unintentional feeling of isolation. Every area was surrounded by rock walls that gave the whole game a rather lonely feeling. But that was far from the game's biggest issue. The controls were clunky and the level designs were confusing, and the redesigned characters were nothing like their PS1 counterparts. Moneybags was turned into a fez-toting pirate, and Hunter was missing his trademark yellow fur.

Eventually we got the DS game, Spyro: Shadow Legacy. This game attempted to combined the top-down gameplay of the GBA games with RPG elements, with awful results. The frame-rate chugged, the controls were clunky, and the combat was some of the worst I've seen. Charging your enemies just makes Spyro run against them as they occasionally flash white to indicate a hit. You can burn them, but it's equally frustrating. The game also attempted to tell an RPG-like story, but it wasn't deep or interesting enough to hold my attention, and I found myself quitting the game after a few hours.

After that, we got The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning. This is the only Spyro game that I've ever owned and sold. I beat the game about three times, each time in about three hours. The transition from a light-hearted platformer to an overly-serious beat-em-up was strange and unnecessary, and the fact that Vivendi stuck to this design for several more games was frustrating. Sure, the graphics were nice, but this simply wasn't Spyro. There were no portals, no eggs, no home worlds, and the gems were just used to power yourself up. (Or, at least, I think they were. I'm not sure, since I made it through the whole game without powering anything up)

From then on it was all down hill. The Legend of Spyro games got drastically worse each time, and eventually stopped altogether with the release of Dawn of the Dragon. Now all we can do is go back and remember the purple dragon's glory days on the PS1, and just pretend that the following games never happened. Every day I wish that Insomniac would make one last game to redeem the series, but we all know that's not happening.

And that's just sad.

Naughty Bear Comes to iPhone

Earlier this year, 505 Games' Naughty Bear was released on consoles to rather poor reviews. But apparently 505 hasn't let that stop them from releasing the game on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Perhaps the iPhone version is better, I don't know. But this definitely seems like the kind of game that would be better in short bursts. So in that sense, it's better suited to a mobile phone.

You can buy it here:

http://itunes.apple.com/app/naughty-bear/id392990481?mt=8

Review: Alien Swarm

Based on the Unreal Tournament 2004 mod of the same name and developed by the same group of guys, who were lucky enough to get picked up by Valve, Alien Swarm is a brand new Steam game in which you and three other players team up and fight through hordes of aliens as you try to complete objectives. That's cool and all, but the coolest thing about Alien Swarm is that it's 100% free.

Future downloadable content will likely cost you money, but as of right now you get one campaign, four classes, and a persistent leveling system that allows you to unlock new weapons and gear for your character. The rewards system, as well as over 60 Steam achievements, give you incentive to play, and the fun, teamwork-oriented gameplay will keep you hooked.

The four classes mentioned earlier include a medic, a technician, an officer and a special weapons guy. The medic has a health pack that he can throw out, creating a health-giving field that teammates can stand in to regain their health. The medic is crucial to the survival of your team. Without one, you won't make it halfway through the level. The technician has the ability to build turrets that automatically attack enemies, and he can activate panels that open doors or otherwise move you forward. The officer is a basic soldier class and the special weapons guy is a heavy gunner of sorts.

Alien Swarm is certainly a good looking game. The lighting is great and the art style is strangely charming. Unfortunately, the amount of action happening on-screen means that lesser computers, like mine, have problems running the game, and at times the frame-rate dips so low that the game is literally unplayable. If your computer is capable of running Left 4 Dead, then it will have no problem with Alien Swarm, but if your computer wasn't built with gaming in mind then the game will definitely chug.

In conclusion, Alien Swarm is a welcome surprise from Valve. In a world where companies like Activision are king, it's nice to see developers like Valve, who give their fans great stuff like this for free. And if you're into modding, then you'll be happy to know that Valve has also released a software development kit, which includes buildable source code. This is definitely one to download. Even if you don't like it, you won't lose anything but a few minutes of your time by giving it a try.

Why a new Metal Arms game should totally happen

Remember Metal Arms? Probably not. But that's okay, because if you don't then you're part of the majority. Metal Arms was a third-person shooter that was released back in 2003 for the XBOX, PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube. It was somewhat of an obscure game, but it was an insanely fun one nonetheless. The game stars a mining robot named Glitch who ventures through over 40 levels with over seventeen weapons. That's a lot of content. And in case that wasn't enough, the game also included a cool local multiplayer mode.

But times have changed. Online multiplayer and HD visuals have become the norm, and although Metal Arms still looks and plays great, I'd say it's time for a new one. There was a planned sequel, but it was canned after the developer, Swingin' Ape Studios, was bought by Blizzard Entertainment. Here are a few reasons why a new game needs to happen.

The gameplay still holds up

The gameplay in Metal Arms is a lot like many modern games. You control Glitch, a robot with a huge arsenal of upgradeable weapons, and you use an aiming reticule in the center of the screen to blast at enemies. The formula is still used by almost every shooter today, and Metal Arms does it well. With some fine tuning and the addition of some more modern mechanics, the gameplay could very well be fixed up to please today's gamers. The best part is, because the gameplay of the original is still so much fun, the developer wouldn't need to totally redo the game to make it modern.

The art style would shine through in HD

Metal Arms has an awesome art style. Everyone in the game is a robot, and all of the environments are very industrial. If you look at a screenshot you'll no doubt notice that the game looks great, but in high definition, the graphics could really shine. And with new textures, animations, and an improved frame-rate, Metal Arms 2 could potentially be one of the best looking games of its kind.

The online multiplayer could be the next big thing

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of first-person shooters that all follow the same pattern: war setting, so-called "realism" and down-the-sights aiming. Metal Arms' fun multiplayer gameplay could translate extremely well to online play, and it would be a nice break from all the gritty war shooters out there. With some more character and weapon customization and more game modes, the multiplayer could be huge, and it would add a ton of replay value to the game.

There's always room for more humor

Metal Arms is a funny game. It's got humor that will appeal to teens and adults, and it manages to be funny without trying to be "edgy" or gratuitous. In fact, the humor in the game is almost subtle, and that's a good thing. In today's market, where most popular games are gritty and violent, Metal Arms could do gamers proud by combining fun shooter mechanics with a sense of humor.

What do you guys think? Should there be another Metal Arms, or should the series be left to rust?